DETROIT -- Designated hitter Victor Martinez had a career year, earning him Tiger of the Year honors.
In voting done by the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Martinez had 17 of a possible 21 first-place votes.
Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Max Scherzer each received one vote.
Martinez, 35, hit .335 with 32 home runs and 103 RBI in 151 games.
"I never thought in my life I was going to hit 30 homers in the big leagues," Martinez said after the Tigers were swept by the Orioles in the ALDS. "But like I always say, I'd rather be lucky than good."
Martinez led the American League with a .409 on-base percentage and 28 intentional walks, finished second with the .335 batting average and .565 slugging percentage, was third with 57 multi-hit games, tied for fourth with 188 hits and 15 game-winning RBI, finished fifth with 317 total bases, was seventh with 65 extra-base hits, tied for seventh with 103 RBI, was eighth with 32 home runs and 10th with a .326 average with runners in scoring position.
Since coming to Detroit in 2011, Martinez has hit .321 with 231 runs scored, 109 doubles, 58 home runs and 289 RBI in 455 games.
Martinez, who's a free agent this offseason, ends Cabrera's two-year reign as Tiger of the Year and is the first primary designated hitter to win the award.
Martinez an MVP finalist
Later Tuesday evening, the BBWAA announced the finalists for their annual awards, and Martinez was named one of three finalists for the AL MVP award.
The other two finalists are Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley.
Brantley, 27, hit .327 with 94 runs scored, 200 hits, 20 home runs, 97 RBI and 23 stolen bases.
Much of Brantley's damage came against the Tigers, against whom he hit .405 with 12 runs, 32 hits (tied for most against any team, also Royals), three home runs (tied for most against any team, also White Sox), 16 RBI (most against any team) and six stolen bases (most against any team).
Martinez returned the favor against the Indians, his former team. He hit .319 with 16 runs (most against any team), 23 hits, seven home runs (most against any team) and 15 RBI.
However, the odds are against Martinez winning the award as he made 115 starts at designated hitter and no player who served mostly as DH has ever won the award.
Trout, 23, beaten by Miguel Cabrera for the last two AL MVP awards, is the odds-on favorite.
Trout hit .287 with 115 runs scored, 173 hits, 36 home runs, 111 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Trout did strike out 184 times compared to just 42 for Martinez and 56 for Brantley.
The AL MVP will be announced on the MLB Network next Thursday at 6 p.m.
